by Giger, S. L.
Luke smiled excitedly. “It was easy to find Jeffry – Churchill has more polar bears than other inhabitants. I got his complete story.”
“How about Cathy?” I asked.
“She hasn’t come back from Brazil yet. But tell me more about Martin.” Luke closed the gap between us and drummed his fingers together.
I grinned. “You don't know anything about him, and already you act like you have a man crush.”
“It's good to hear if others are holding up well, and I’m dying to know how they are coping with struggles.”
“Yes, I get it,” I said. “For starters, he only spoke Portuguese, so I didn't talk to him directly. After the initial suspicion, though, his wife became very talkative and told me their whole story.” Then, I recounted to Alex and Luke what Marina had told me. “So, you see, it’s quite similar to your story, except they live an even quieter life.”
“Hmm, yes, so does Jeffry.” Luke’s expression was serious, but a smile played around the corners of his mouth. “I’m the only one of the three of us who lives close to big cities.” I detected pride in his voice and inwardly grinned that Luke had turned this into a contest.
“But like Luke, Martin has been very focused on his wife,” Alex remarked. “That could be a key element we won't get around. What’s Jeffry's story?”
“Jeff was a US soldier in the Vietnam war. His now-wife, Kim, who is a Siren from Korea, worked in one of the brothels near his base. She liked to have the attention of those rough men who only needed a little love. Jeffry was one of the guys who treated her well, and they started liking each other. Jeffry made plans with her, how he could bring her home or go live in a different country with her after the war.” Luke paused. Alex and I had been listening intently. “But one day, he was badly wounded. Kim said that she didn't even think about the consequences and simply stabbed his heart. For that reason, she was shocked when Jeff gasped for air in the moment after she stuck the needle in his chest. His first reaction was shock, as well. He thought he was dead and seeing Kim’s ghost. However, he noticed that he was still able to move his body, yanked her up in the air, and carried her away from the danger, far out into the jungle. Only once he put her down did he realize that something weird had happened, but by that point, they were far enough away from all the distractions.”
“Hence, if you’re a hero, that might contribute to you being a better Siren, as well,” Alex interrupted.
“Or at least do a selfless job. Luke worked for the police, and Martin was a teacher,” I said. “All jobs that put caring for other people ahead of themselves.”
“Hmm,” Alex said pensively.
“But, so... Jeff was fine, from the first second on?” I asked.
“Kim said that her seductive powers still worked, so first she calmed him down, and later she explained. He wasn't even that surprised. He said it had always been a mystery to him, how she could be that pretty, and now he at least had an explanation.” Luke took a breath.
“He sounds like the kind of Siren we need. How well did he cope from then on?”
“Well, they also live in the middle of nowhere, and not entirely out of their free choice. Too many heartbeats make him queasy.” Luke frowned. “He has tried wearing military headphones to function in a crowd, but that only helps for the noises. It doesn't keep out all the vibrations.”
“So still, no ease on your struggles,” I said. “And I assume someone who lives out in the Brazilian jungle doesn't feel any different, either.” My eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to me. “Did you tell them about our mission?”
“They wanted to know what our sudden interest in his story was, that we came up north to find him especially. We said that we want to make the creation of male Sirens less dangerous. Plus, it should involve fewer struggles for the guys.” Luke’s eyes sparkled. “He was all for it – said that we should call again if we needed anything more or if there was anything they could do.” He furrowed his brows. “Who knows, perhaps we’ll have to take him up on his offer.” Luke pursed his lips. “He at least has been in a war already.”
“We can’t let it get that far.” I balled my hands into fists. “Before we fight, we have to destroy Dr. Palmer’s organization from the inside. If necessary, I’ll set up camp in London and spy on them until I’ve figured out how they know so much about magic.”
Alex started shaking his head, but in that moment, the door opened, and Cathy appeared with a tall, lean black man in tow. Because his skin was so dark, his white eyes that had a hint of yellow in them stood in stark contrast. It was even emphasized by a glistening liquid in them. His eyes searched for me, and once he spotted me, he studied me from head to toe. I took a step back and looked at Cathy. “You brought him to us?” I wanted to ask her but didn’t dare while I was being scrutinized so openly. Then the black guy turned his head toward Alex.
“He is human,” he remarked in an accent that wasn’t familiar to me.
“Yes, does it bother you?” Cathy asked.
He grunted. “It’s not easy.” He tilted his head from side to side as if to loosen a tension in his neck.
“Should I leave?” Alex asked.
“Perhaps that would be a good idea,” Cathy suggested.
“Okay,” Alex said quickly, then looked past the stranger on both sides, trying to figure out how to get past him. The stranger aligned himself with the wall and followed Alex with his stern eyes. Once the door shut close, the guy dedicated his concentration to me once more, which made the small hairs on my neck stand up.
“This is Themba,” Cathy presented him and told him our names in return. “The red dot on the map was right – he lives in Carauri with a group of female Sirens in something like a tribe.” Cathy paused and looked at me and raised her eyebrows. “Strangely, they have heard of our prodigy down there. When I arrived, I first had to explain myself, why I came to look for them, and why I needed information. I told them the truth, that the Orbiters had contacted us. I stirred up quite a discussion because they knew that this was a special occasion. One of their ancient stories says that one day, a higher power will contact a Siren, who will need to save us all.” She clicked her tongue. “So right away, they thought that’s you.” She pointed to me with her chin. “So, he wanted to come see you.”
I took a deep breath and swallowed, facing Themba again. “Well, since nothing else special has happened and we’re all clueless how we’re going to fulfill their demands...”
He strode toward me and spoke with urgency. “It doesn’t matter what they want.” He pronounced the ‘a’ very openly and almost spat the ‘t.’ His accent was like an exotic song to my ears. “You will do the right thing. You will save us all.”
I shook my head. “Maybe the Orbiters have talked to someone else, too. I’m nothing special.”
I looked to Luke for help, but he only wrinkled his forehead and addressed Themba with a question. “What exactly does your prophecy say, and where did you find it?”
“An ancestor from my Siren tribe received it during one of her meditations about two-hundred years ago. The prophecy showed her that a dark time will fall upon the world, where no magical creature is safe, and the humans will fight each other until no man is left standing. During these times, the higher powers will contact the one girl who will save the world.” Due to the contrast of his white eyes, his stare pierced me like a sharp dagger.
I swallowed again. “Does that prophecy say anything about what the savior will do?”
Themba shook his head. “No. She – you – will know what to do when the time is right. So, now I’ve come to tell you that your experiments with male Sirens are wrong. The Orbiters may have told you to do that, but when have they ever done anything for us? It’s not our natural behavior. You can’t let them create more of us!”
“What?” Cathy asked, perplexed. “I thought you wanted to help!”
“I will fight with Nathalie and defend her so that she can fulfill her mission, but I won’t support the
Orbiters,” he growled. “They have the power to improve a lot in this world, but they don’t.”
“I get that you are angry,” Cathy said. “Believe me, I don’t like them at all and frankly, their judgment might not be the best in choosing Nathalie to be our savior. But all Sirens in love would transform their partner in a heartbeat if it comes down to it.” Her brows puckered. “Wouldn’t you want to help make it easier for them?”
Themba humbly looked to the ground for a moment, then into Cathy’s eyes again. “Forgive me if I am of a different opinion, but I believe if someone’s time has come, they are supposed to go and not have their life prolonged for eternity.” He took a breath. “Yes, my life is agreeable now, but only because I found my tribe and because I found a hiding place.” He exhaled sharply. “I suffered as a human and was oppressed – I lost my family, and nobody helped me until I finally would have died.” He got up and towered over Cathy. “Ever since my transformation, I’ve had to hide because not even Sirens trust us. I was hunted like an animal. The Orbiters played an important role in our bad reputation. Why would you support them now, just because out of the blue they find that we need to fight for them?”
“I also feel underappreciated,” Luke chimed in. “Nevertheless, I am glad to be what I am, and if we can create improved male Sirens, it would be an enrichment to the world and make life better for us, as well.”
“You are dreaming.” Themba wet his lips with his tongue. “Just because there are more male Sirens, ones that are more civilized, doesn’t mean that we will enjoy a better reputation.”
Luke gritted his teeth, and his posture seemed to shrink about two inches. This was the first time this thought had occurred to him, but after a short silence, he found his voice again. “But it’s a start. We can change something for the better. Somebody has to make the first step.”
“And obviously, you are still alive, and you manage to control yourself,” I addressed Themba. “Therefore, I’d be interested in your story. What was it that helped you stay focused?”
Themba turned back to me. “I’ll tell you my story, your highness.”
I furrowed my brows in bewilderment.
“I already told her.” He nodded to Cathy. “But don’t be blinded by my positive outcome. Bearing children is something that’s reserved for women, like becoming a Siren should be.” He paced up and down the lab, first folding his hands behind his back, then gesticulating along with what he said. “I grew up in Johannesburg before the apartheid got really bad. We were never worth the same as the white people, and I got to feel their stares and hear their comments every day.
“I was lucky enough to get a job as a sanitation worker when I was twelve and could support my parents. I worked well, so I kept my job until I was eighteen. Then, we were forced out of Josie and had to go live in favelas. Townships, we call them in Africa. Before we had a small house, now we lived in a dog kennel. I lost my job but nevertheless, I walked to the city every day to find a new one. Now, people looked at me as if I was trash myself.” Themba took a breath. “We had nothing. Still, every last thing would have been stolen by somebody else in the township. If you don’t have food and no outlook for a job, you do anything to fight for your survival. My parents both died young, and my brothers and sisters found wives and husbands or died in a turmoil.”
Themba’s voice was steady and emotionless as if he told a story that had happened a long time ago and to someone else. “I also found a wife. We had no money, but at least we had us. We had five babies. Three of them died from a virus as infants because we couldn’t buy medicine. Plus, the metal shack we lived in was too dirty. One of them was shot by police officers when he was twelve because he went protesting with his friends to get some food. I thought that at least Bongani, who had turned seventeen – so almost an adult – would get to grow old and have a better life someday. But life was worse than ever. We had less than nothing. We were starving right outside of a city where white people had everything inside their pretty white houses.”
We had consternation written all over our faces, but that wasn’t the worst yet.
“My wife was the next one to go – heartbroken from outliving four of her children, and with a stomach that was sucked in toward her spine because it was so hollow from starvation. I was done.” His eyes glistened. “I stayed in our hut and waited to die, as well. My son perhaps did the only right thing and left our township. I don’t know how far he got or whether he is still alive. I tried to find him later, but there was no trace. We weren’t listed anywhere. Not worth mentioning.” He pursed his thick lips. “Anyway, as I was waiting for my death, Praise, a woman who sometimes walked through our township and handed out blessed twigs, entered my shack. She was the only stranger with whom I frequently exchanged a few kind words. I thought she would give me her last blessing, but she did something, what I later knew was starting my transformation.
“Suddenly, I felt dizzy but much better. Praise moved back a little and blocked the entrance. Then, she beckoned to me and said it was time to go find my son. She took my hand to help me get up, and before I knew it, we were far out in the savannah.” He wet his lips again. “I thought I was having a fever dream. We stayed there for days and Praise was with me all the time. However, once I realized what she had done to me, I became extremely angry. How could she prolong my sad existence to eternity without even asking my permission? Praise affirmed that she saw a lot of good in me, which she couldn’t waste, and therefore she wanted to give me a second chance in life. But I didn’t want to live forever because I knew that I would be living in pain. Yet, even thinking about killing myself made me sick because it was against my religion. So, every day, the red soil of Africa reminded me of the blood my family had to shed, and I suffered. The dry savannah reminded me of how we never had any food. In short, I was unable to forget about the hardships of my human life.
“Thus, I left Africa. Tried to make a new start. But it was so cold everywhere.” He gave a short laugh. “In Sri Lanka, I thought I found a place that was okay to stay, but again, I was too different. Eventually, some Sirens discovered me and told me to leave. They were scared that I would expose them by killing innocent humans.” Themba released a breath. “After a while, I ended up in Brazil. I kept to myself in the jungle. It was like heaven on earth to finally be left in peace and quiet. When I discovered another group of Sirens, I hid in the woods and observed them for a few weeks. Then they noticed me, but they had a more liberal perspective. Anybody who was willing to live in balance with nature was a worthy being, in their judgment. I’ve stayed with them ever since, and I have to say that there haven’t been such hardships anymore.” He pressed his lips together and added one more phrase. “But it’s impossible to forget.”
“Phew.” I blew out a long breath. “I feel like I’ve been a well-protected princess all my life when I hear about the problems you had.”
Luke ran his fingers through his hair and obviously was at a loss for words.
“Again, I’m so sorry to hear about all you went through,” Cathy said, her face expressionless as usual.
“It’s amazing how, despite hardly ever having been treated kindly yourself, you never lost control and killed someone,” I remarked.
“You forget that I was very religious. I believed that God only handed us what we could handle. During all the bad times, in all my prayers, I always felt the strength he sent me. ‘You shall not kill.’” He swallowed. “Living under such circumstances as we did turns the best people into sinners, just because they don’t see another way to survive. But I’d rather have accepted my faith and died. However, then came Praise.” He sighed. “And I couldn’t lay down all the beliefs I had followed my whole life.”
“Thank you for telling us,” I said. “We aren’t living in the easiest times now, but this actually gives me hope. It’s not like this is the first bad glitch the world has had. We’ll overcome it.”
“Guided by you, yes,” Themba agreed. “But not by an army o
f male Sirens. If that really is your plan, I will stand in its way, and my tribe will help me stop you.” His voice resonated through the room, sending a shiver down my spine.
I couldn’t stifle a hollow laugh at the absurdity of all this. “I don’t have a plan.”
“Good, there is still hope for you to find a better one,” Themba said.
“Wow.” Luke found his voice again. “I admire you. I mean, I needed a lot of Melissa’s support. Sounds like you have been fine on your own.”
“I’m better on my own. We don’t bother each other in the Amazon area.” Themba focused on me again. “But you must be the one.”
I felt myself blushing and pushed further against the counter, wishing I could just sink into the ground and escape from his piercing stare.
“I want to stay here and help,” he said.
I looked at the others.
“More support is always good,” Luke said. “But we have to continue what we started. This isn’t about creating an army – it’s about making transformations for males safer.”
“You shouldn’t decide another man’s destiny.”
“We are careful,” Luke said. “We don’t want to cause any harm.”
“Hmm.” Themba pressed his thick lips together.
“So, you want to stay here?” Cathy asked.
“It’s not my desire. This asphalt is already making me depressed. But you could clearly use another brain to brainstorm.”
“That’s a kind offer,” Cathy said. “But to be honest, it’s too early right now to do anything.”
I took a deep breath. “We could use someone to spy on Dr. Palmer. We’re under the impression that he’s hypnotized, and we need to figure out who’s pulling the strings.”
They all looked at me in surprise.
“Claire and I had an interesting encounter,” I said as if that would explain everything. “But spying on him is a difficult task. He’s well-guarded, and they know a lot about magical creatures. Claire thought she’d risk being discovered if she spent much time in close proximity to him.”